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In order...1,775 words
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One must be broken

Scootaloo was almost there. She was so close to the edge of the Everfree. Soon, she would be in Ponyville, and then she'd give Sweetie the orb, and then everything would be better. Sweetie Belle would be happy, and then they could all go adventures again. Just like they always did. It would be perfect again.

She blinked her eyes to clear the rain that was now falling. Then she thought of something. She didn't know what to do with the orb. And chances are, nopony in Ponyville would either. She would have to go and get Zecora first. She would know what to do.

Fortunately, Zecora's hut was nearby, only a short detour from her original flight course. The rain was getting thicker, falling more heavily, but Scootaloo fought on. Her training with Rainbow Dash and her big wings gave her an advantage. She managed to make it to Zecora's with relative ease, but the wind still blew the rain into her face and eyes, causing them to be rather irritated.

She landed and noticed how different the place looked in the middle of a rain storm. Water dripped down into grooves in the ground, filling them up. Plants sagged and the dark forest took on an even more dreary look. It looked like a bog, like something straight out of a fantasy horror tale or something.

She heard thunder and quickly ran for Zecora's house. Not a rain storm, a thunder storm. Thunder storms were terrible, always loud and scary.

The hut was well lit, and Zecora sat in the middle of it, with her pot brewing with some new potion. It bubbled and hissed and she could only guess what was inside it.

Zecora spoke without turning. "Dear filly from before, what are you doing out in this fierce storm?"

"I..." Scootaloo took a few breaths as she shivered from the cold. "I n-need your help, Zecora." She held out the orb. "I d-don't know how to use this." She handed the orb to Zecora then walked over to the fire place and warmed herself up.

Zecora took the orb and examined it. "Indeed, this orb is the orb I of which I told you, but tell me, where is your friend, Apple Bloom?"

"She's... she's coming... I flew ahead to get here quicker."

Zecora looked up startled. "You left your friend alone in the Everfree?! Do you know not what her fate will be?!"

Scootaloo shook her head. "Um... n-no..."

Zecora shook her head, a frown on her face. "No... no this is not good. Go... go to your friend! Find her! And prevent her from meeting her end!"

Zecora rushed out of her hut towards Ponyville, leaving a startled and frightened filly behind. Scootaloo was still trying to understand what had just happened. What was going on? She had flown ahead and left Apple Bloom behind... Apple Bloom was alone, in the rain... in the Everfree... Zecora had said she was going to meet an end?

Scootaloo dashed out of the house and took to the sky. The rain had gotten stronger, but she didn't let it phase her. She had a mission, and a duty to protect her friend. Guilt began to creep into her mind for leaving her in the first place.

She scanned the ground, trying to find the yellow earth pony. She should be at least sort of easy to find. She was yellow and red in a black and blue forest. She wouldn't exactly be camouflaged.

She saw a manticore below, seemingly feasting on something. Then she saw that dragon thing from before sleeping in the rain. Wait.

She spun around back to the manticore. It was mauling something. And through the rain, Scootaloo could see that something yellow and red. But the red seemed to be more from blood than from the little filly's mane and tail.

Apple Bloom laughed. Amidst all the pain she felt, she still laughed. Her ending was kind of funny. Who would have thought she would die because her best friend left her alone in a evil forest and she got mauled by a manticore? It was just kind of... outrageous, something nopony would ever expect.

She felt the beast clamp down on both her hind legs, lifting her into the air. She could see the beasts chin from her position, dangling from death's jaws. She tried to feel something. She tried to feel the wind blowing her mane, making it dance despite her situation. She tried to feel the rain, which washed away the blood as it flowed out of her body. She tried to feel the leaves and dirt and sticks stuck to her fur, gained from her predicament. But all she could feel was pain.

The beast bit down hard, shattering her legs and splattering blood across her face. She didn't cry in pain. She cried from sorrow, from the fact she would never see her friends again, or her family. She would die here... and she could do nothing about it.

She dropped and hit the ground with a light splat, due to the fact the ground was wet and because of all her blood. She was a little surprised she hadn't passed out yet. So much blood had been lost, she felt lighter. Or maybe it was lightheaded.

Then her chest exploded with pain. She looked down to see the manticore piercing her chest with a claw. It dug in deep, and this time she did cry out in pain. She tried to scream but felt like she had no breath. She cried from pain now. All thoughts left her mind save one.

She was going to die now.

The manticore was flung to the side without warning, letting out a yelp of pain. It's claw painfully retracted from her chest, and she glanced down at the whole it left. More blood poured out the new hole, squirting out at times. Maybe her heart had been slightly pierced?

She tried to look over to see what happened to the manticore, but she just felt so weak. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep. She was so tired. Maybe just a little nap and she would be okay. Then something flew past her face, jolting her eyes fully open. It was orange, she had seen that. Had Scootaloo came back for her?

She felt the tiredness return. Then her whole body felt really weird. Like something was pulling her... her soul or something. She felt like she was in her body and not. It was the most... interesting thing she had ever felt.

Then she saw something blue, something with wings, maybe., Everything was so blurry now she couldn't see much. She thought that maybe she heard shouting, but she was trouble hearing now. She felt at peace, despite all pain and loss of her senses.

She had one last thought. She would never get to say goodbye to her family. The thought brought one last tear to hear eyes.

Then everything was white.

Scootaloo fell through the sky faster than she ever had before. Without thinking, she had a plan. She would save her friend.

First she collided with the manticore. It was sent flying to the side with a yelp of pain, the impact sending her rolling across the ground. She felt a little dizzy, but bounced right back up. She couldn't afford to lose here. It was all or nothing.

The manticore got up and pawed the ground, growling savagely. Scootaloo readied herself to fight. She also pawed the ground, her cape tattered and blowing in the wind. The wait lasted only a second.

The beast pounced, intent on ripping Scootaloo to pieces. Scootaloo rolled to the side, dodging the monster and coming up in a standing position. She thanked Celestia she had actually paid attention when Rainbow Dash taught her self defense. It might just save her life. She jumped forward and kicked the manticore in the jaw. This got a nice roar and a swipe from its paw.

She jumped backwards but was still caught on the side of her face. She sucked in some air and held her breath. That stung really badly. She looked up to see she didn't have time to nurture her wounds. With a roll she was behind the enraged beast. Her mind was in overtime. One little slip up, and she would be dead.

She tried to calm her mind, but she couldn't. She was too stressed, and the cut on her cheek only added to the mess her brain was in. She could only go off instinct. So she stopped trying to think this through and acted.

She flew over the beast, landing a blow on its face, then dodged its counter attack to bring a kick to its groin. It roared in pain and lost some of its control, swinging and biting wildly.

She managed to dodge its mad advance and landed a blow on its back. She realized these attacks were doing nothing, so she grabbed the first thing she could. A nice big stick.

With a deep breath, the Pegasus found herself flying through the air, over her foe's back, with the stick ready to strike. She closed her eyes and thrust her stick down.

It snapped off about halfway into its eye socket. The manticore howled in pain, trying to get the stick out of its eye. Scootaloo smiled. Looks like she might win. She actually had a chance. She grabbed a rock this time and flew right into the beast.

It spun around, paws up, claws out, smacking her across the chest. She flew backwards, crashing into a tree. She lost her breath, and tied desperately to regain it. Her breathing steadied just a bit, but enough for her to stand. Then her fore legs were clamped down on by the manticore.

She cried in pain as it lifted her up. Her legs bled, the redness pouring onto the ground below. She had never seen so much blood before.

Then it smacked her against the ground. She cried out as her head shook, her brain rattled. She felt the headache instantly. Then she was lifted up and smacked against a tree. She was certain she heard her hind leg bones crack. She was thrown into the air and let go. She felt weightless for a while, like she was floating up. Then she fell, but a branch caught her. She looked down at the manticore, who now was attempting to beat down the tree she was in.

She looked around. Amidst her pain and haziness, she made out a few things of use. Like tree branch right next to her. It was sharp and within reach. She grabbed it in her mouth and snapped it off. It was long and seemed like it could kill. Maybe even pierce the manticore.

She smiled. This was it. Either she killed the manticore now, or passed out from pain and was eaten. Either way, she would go down fighting.

Her smile melted into grim resolve. With a deep breath she pushed herself out of the tree, holding the stick with her last good leg. She spread her wings and used them to propel herself towards the monster. The manticore looked towards her, seeing her falling. It opened its mouth and prepared to eat.

Scootaloo let loose a feral war cry and drove her weapon home. Right through the manticore's throat. She fell into it's mouth but scrambled out as it coughed and choked on it's own blood and the stick. It tried to dislodge it, but Scootaloo was now clinging to its face, thrusting the stick further in, twisting it and screaming the whole time.

She felt one of it's paws smack her off its face, and she tumbled to the ground. She felt her right wing snap, but she didn't cry out. It was over, she had won.

The manticore gave one last cry before falling to the ground, dead.

Scootaloo looked over to try and find her friend. She saw her, laying in a pool of blood. Her breathing was shallow, and her yellow coat was now red. Scootaloo pushed aside all thoughts of guilt for now. She had to help her friend.

With slow, painful movements, she slid herself closer. She had to help her. She had to keep her safe. She was...

She heard something. Shouting. Lots of it. She looked up to see something, no, a lot of somethings coming closer. As they neared, she could make out their form. Pegasi.

She tried to wave to them, but her whole body ached. She tried to move, but her wounds were shutting down her mind. She had never felt so much pain before.

Rainbow Dash flew out of the sky and landed next to Apple Bloom, checking her to make sure was still alive. Then she saw Scootaloo. Some other Pegasus landed nest to her, Soarin, maybe. It was hard to tell with all the pain she was in.

She made out a few words amongst the rain.

"Is she okay?"

"No, she needs a hospital!"

"Same with this one! Let's go!"

"Wow, a dead manticore! These fillies did that?"

"Hospital, now!"

And then everything was black.

Scootaloo awoke inside a hospital. The lights were dim, but she could still see her room. It was a small room. There was the bed she was in, a table, some machines, some chairs, and a door. She felt terrible. Her whole body was aching and she couldn't seem to remember why. She tried to recall what had happened to warrant her being in a hospital, but nothing came to mind.

She heard the door open and looked over to see a nurse step in. Scootaloo didn't recognize her at all.

"Hi, how are you feeling?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "Um... I feel terrible..."

The nurse nodded. "You would. Anypony who survives a manticore attack is bound to be in pain."

Scootaloo's eyes widened. "Wait, what? I was attacked by a... a manticore?"

The nurse nodded. "Yes, you were. But you're alive, so that's all that matters."

Scootaloo closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah... I guess..."

She drifted off into an peaceful slumber. She had no dreams, no nightmares, just sleep. When she awoke, she was greeted with the faces of several ponies she knew.

"Hey kid. How are ya feeling?" Rainbow Dash's face was plastered with concern.

Scootaloo shook her head. "Not good."

"You were amazing!" Sweeite Belle said. "I heard you killed a manticore!"

Now her mind was trying to sort through everything. She had been attacked by and killed a manticore? So what had happened? She couldn't remember. Her brain just drew a blank when she tried to think about anything for the last few days.

Wait a second.

"Sweetie Belle?"

Her white unicorn friend nodded her head. "Yep! I can... I can see again! T-Thanks to you and Apple Bloom!"

Scootaloo smiled. "But.. but what did we do?"

Rainbow Dash looked really concerned. "You really can't remember?"

"Nope."

"How much can you remember?" Rainbow asked.

"Um... the last thing I remember is that Sweetie was blind... and she had been crying..."

Scootaloo looked over to Sweetie Belle. She was definitely not blind. She was looking around the room, taking in all the details. How had she gotten her eye sight back? What had she done?

Rainbow Dash told her all the events that had transpired. Using what she heard from Zecora and what she saw herself, she filled in her little sister on all she needed to know.

"When Zecora came to us in the rain, she told us Apple Bloom was alone in the Everfree. I told the weather team to hold off the storm while we searched for her. We looked everywhere, but couldn't find her. So we decided to check further into the forest, thinking it wouldn't be possible for her to have wandered out that far. We found her, and you, both near death, and a dead manticore nearby. We rushed you both to the hospital, where you've been since."

Rainbow Dash looked towards Sweetie Belle. "It's been three days. While you were out, Zecora said she needed to see Sweetie Belle at her hut. When Sweetie came back, she could see again, though Zecora never told us why. Only that "A dark magic has been repelled', whatever that means."

Scootaloo looked to Sweetie Belle, who smiled at her. Scootaloo couldn't help but smile back. Then she looked at Rainbow Dash. "So... Apple Bloom was hurt too? How is she?"

Rainbow Dash frowned. "She hasn't woken up. She uh..." The cyan mare took a deep breath. "She was dead when I found her. The wounds she had sustained were fatal. We got her to the hospital and they revived her... but she hasn't actually woken up."

Sweetie Belle nodded. "But she'll wake up soon, I know she will!"

Scootaloo felt tired again. "I hope so... I just wish I could remember what had happened."

She drifted off to sleep again with her big sister and her best friend beside her. She was safe, and everything was going to be fine... everything was going to be perfect.

Author's Note:

TIME TO WRITE THE THIRD STORY!!!

*charges forward riding Pinkie Pie*

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